Billel Omrani

Billel Omrani
Abdel Slem Billel Omrani (born 2 June 1993) is a professional footballer who plays as a forward for Liga I club Petrolul Ploiești.
A product of the Marseille academy, Omrani made his Ligue 1 debut for the club in 2011. He amassed ten games for the first team and had a loan stint at Arles-Avignon, before moving to Romania with CFR Cluj in 2016. In the latter country, Omrani won seven domestic trophies and was named the league's Foreign Player of the Year in 2019. He moved to rivals FCSB on a free transfer in 2022.
Born in France, Omrani represented the nation at under-17, under-18 and under-19 levels. In June 2022, he switched his allegiance to Algeria by making his full debut in a 2–1 friendly win over Iran.
Club career
Early career / Marseille
Omrani joined the youth system of Marseille in 2007, after spells with two amateur clubs in the Moselle area. On 19 March 2011, he agreed to a three-year professional contract with the Stade Vélodrome side.
Omrani was subsequently promoted to the senior squad by manager Didier Deschamps for the 2011–12 season, being assigned the number 25 shirt. He made his senior debut by coming on as an 83rd-minute substitute for Alou Diarra in a 1–1 Ligue 1 draw with Brest, on 2 October 2011.
CFR Cluj
Omrani moved abroad for the first time by signing a contract with Romanian team CFR Cluj in September 2016. On the 17th that month, he recorded his debut and scored in a 5–0 Liga I thrashing of Voluntari.
During the following season, Omrani totalled nine goals from 31 appearances in all competitions as "the White-Burgundies" won the national championship. On 8 July 2018, amid rumours regarding a transfer to title contenders FCSB, CFR announced that he penned down a three-year contract extension. Six days later, Omrani obtained the penalty kick from which Emmanuel Culio scored the only goal of the 2018 Supercupa României win over Universitatea Craiova.
In 2019, Omrani was linked with a move to Celtic after netting against them twice in the third qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League, but nothing came of it. That year, he was handed the Foreign Player of the Year award by the Gazeta Sporturilor daily.
Omrani left Cluj-Napoca as a free agent in the summer of 2022, after aiding the team in winning five national titles and two supercups during his six-year stint.
FCSB
On 13 September 2022, Omrani continued in Romania and its Liga I by signing a one-year contract with the option of another two years for FCSB. He scored his first goal on 11 December, in a 2–0 away league win over Chindia Târgoviște.
Omrani made 22 appearances and only netted two goals, and the club chose not to renew his deal at the end of the campaign.
Petrolul Ploiești
On 28 September 2023, Omrani moved to fellow Liga I club Petrolul Ploiești as a free agent.
International career
France
Omrani is a former France youth international, having represented the country at under-17, under-18 and under-19 levels. With the under-17 side, he played at the 2010 UEFA European Championship.
Algeria
Omrani was also eligible to represent Algeria, and in October 2011 was called up to the under-23 team to participate in the friendly matches ahead of the 2011 CAF Championship. However, the report of the call-up was deemed erroneous due to a misunderstanding between the team's coach and the Algerian media; the latter assumed the coach was calling up Omrani, when he was in fact calling up another French-born player who was also featuring for Marseille.
In February 2013, Omrani was invited by the Algeria under-20 national team coach Jean-Marc Nobilo to be a member of the squad for the 2013 African Championship, but declined the offer. In May 2022, he received his first call-up to the Algeria senior team for the 2023 AFCON qualification matches against Uganda and Tanzania. He made his debut on 12 June, coming on for Rachid Ghezzal in the 71st minute of a 2–1 friendly win against Iran in Doha.
Personal life
Omrani's elder brother Abdelhakim also played professional football in Romania for Dunărea Călărași, and his elder sister Yasmina was an international heptathlete.
Career statistics
Club
International
Honours
Marseille
Coupe de la Ligue: 2011–12
Trophée des Champions: 2011
Marseille B
CFA 2 — Group Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur-Corsica: 2012–13
CFR Cluj
Liga I: 2017–18, 2018–19, 2019–20, 2020–21, 2021–22
Supercupa României: 2018, 2020; runner-up: 2021
Individual
Gazeta Sporturilor Foreign Player of the Year in Romania: 2019
References
External links
Marseille official profile
1993 births
Living people
People from Forbach
Footballers from Moselle (department)
French sportspeople of Algerian descent
French men's footballers
Algerian men's footballers
Men's association football forwards
Ligue 1 players
Ligue 2 players
Olympique de Marseille players
AC Arlésien players
Liga I players
CFR Cluj players
FC Steaua București players
FC Petrolul Ploiești players
France men's youth international footballers
Algeria men's international footballers
French expatriate men's footballers
Algerian expatriate men's footballers
Expatriate men's footballers in Romania
French expatriate sportspeople in Romania
Algerian expatriate sportspeople in Romania